invaded by crown anenomes

[andyab]

my fish tank is being invaded by little green/brown anenomes with red tips. In the begining they looked cute but now they are all over the tank. Is there a way to nuke these out? a shrimp or a fish to eat them? many thanks!

 

[birdy]

Do a search for aiptasia, definitely not cute!
There are a few things that will eat them, peppermint shrimp will eat the smaller ones and I think a copperbanded butterfly will eat them, but you must have a tank big enough for them.
A search will definitely give you some ideas on how to attack them.

 

[kreach]

Sounds like aiptasia. Does it look like the pic below? If so, check out this thread... The Basics of Aiptasia
Lots of helpful information on how to get rid of them. Good luck!

 

[kreach]

Might help if I posted the picture...

 

[yellowtail]

i had an aptasia when fully out was an astonishing 3 inches!!!!!!!!! my pepperment shrimp did not work it all they we scared of it.

:nervous:

 

[kreach]

Originally posted by YellowTail
i had an aptasia when fully out was an astonishing 3 inches!!!!!!!!! my pepperment shrimp did not work it all they we scared of it.

:nervous:
Peppermint shrimp usually will only go after smaller aiptasia...

 

[bang guy]

They sound like Tulip Anemone. Can you post a pic? Tulips can just be scraped off if you want. Don't try scraping with Aiptasia though.

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by YellowTail
i had an aptasia when fully out was an astonishing 3 inches!!!!!!!!!
3 inches eh?
Check out this one

 

[andyab]

not sure how clear it is but it is greenish and has the red tips.... i saw the pictures posted of the normal aptisia but this looks different.

 

[bang guy]

Looks to me like a Tulip.

 

[chrisrench]

I know exactly what those things are. I had the same problem about a month ago. They almost took over my tank. If they are mostly concentrated on a couple of rocks I took the rocks out and hosed them off outside, then let the rocks sit outside for a few days. If they aren't concentrated on a few of the rocks the only other thing you can do is get some hemostats or even some needlenose pliers (hemostats work best though) and pluck them off the rock. It will take a while depending on how many you have but it works very well. Like I said, I had a ton of them a month ago, and now 99% of them are gone.

 

[zen]

I have them in my overflow box. they love fast current. I have a few in my tank but my peppermint shrimp control that for me
Before I got my shrimp, I would take a small turkey baster and shoot them with hot tap water (please move any and all corals that would get hit by that water). I even heard of injecting them with calcium.
Anyways ...my 2 cents - good luck to ya!
Keep reefing!
Zen